Social Scientist 189 views

Valar KenyaLimited is looking for a Social Scientist

Location: New York, USA

Job Type: Full-time

Description:

Valar seeks an exceptionally qualified individual to serve as a Social Scientist in support of numerous Valar projects across the region. The successful applicant will possess advanced analytical skills and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the political, security, cultural, and economic environments across greater East Africa to produce high-quality written and oral analysis from a few open and closed sources. This position will brief Valar senior leadership and, at times, the senior leadership of commercial and public sector client organizations. The Social Scientist will report to the Director of Information and Analysis in Nairobi.

Role Overview:

• The Social Scientist will lead field-based research, data collection, and analytical duties for a number of Western donor clients across Greater East Africa, with particular focus on Somalia, Mozambique, and Ethiopia.
• The individual will be responsible for designing surveys and data collection programs to address client questions and in accordance with best practices, formulating research interview questions, managing field enumerator teams to execute the surveys and questions, and conducting in-person interviews across the region.
• At the end of each field research assignment, the Social Scientist will process and analyse the data collected, write the final reports, and will lead team presentations of the findings to clients.
• Reports will include intelligence analysis in terms of security recommendations, programmatic prioritizations, and risk assessments, to include program design and potential support to project implementation.
• The Social Scientist will also work with the Valar geospatial team to create maps for these associated reports.
• The role of the Social Scientist requires significant expertise and experience conducting field-based research projects, with field research scopes ranging from four weeks to six months.
• The role requires experience with methodological rigor, implementing data validation mechanisms, and research design.
• The focus of these research assignments includes security sector reform, stabilization operations, and development program and recommendations in conflict zones.
• The Social Scientist will be responsible for managing and conducting several overlapping research assignments concurrently, as well as for regular engagement with senior leaders in each of the assigned projects in East Africa.
• The Social Scientist will also provide subject matter expertise to Valar operations and teams based across the region.
• Additional roles for this position include training of field research methodologies and best practices to field teams; data input into the proprietary Valar database; and coordination with the US and East African academic communities, to include outreach with East African professors and embassies in support of donor research opportunities in their respective countries (with priority focus on Somalia, Mozambique, Ethiopia and their neighbors).

Responsibilities:

• Use traditional research methodologies to understand relationships (leadership, affiliations, aliases, etc.), temporal and spatial interdependencies, and conceptual scenarios which yield draft and finished analytical products, including threat assessments, situation reports, and geospatial analysis. Perform appropriate methods of social network analysis and varied field research methodologies to meet specific project needs. Methods may include classification, pattern analysis, trend and link analysis based on analysis of transaction data, message (phone, e-mail, blog) traffic, and other data sources in collaboration with other team members.
• Expand Valar’s network across the region, by forming relationships between the Valar team and key leaders and elders. o Monitor aspects of clan and tribal networks from various qualitative data sets, making elements of it actionable by focusing on the geospatial aspects of sub-clan, religious, occupational, and other social groups from diverse communities.
• Provide security and development programmatic recommendations to clients as part of written deliverables of field research projects that the Analyst leads. o Support the Information & Analysis department in the delivery of tailored client field research reports; work closely with management to prioritize information needs; brief senior managers and executives via written and oral presentations. This will include helping craft information products that span our programs in Somalia and the region to create timely information products for our clients, to include requests for information.
• Help manage our teams of field research enumerators to ensure data quality, timeliness, and depth and breadth of sources. This support to field research assignments will include using individual networked relationships to add data to these research efforts, as well as data validity testing.
• Help the Valar team to expand, update, fact-check, and maintain extensive information databases, systems, and mechanisms for sharing relevant information to support field research projects and ongoing training programs. This will include regular updates to leadership rolodexes and engagements. o Support to quick-turn and long-term request-for-information assignments or field research contracts from our clients. This will include leveraging relationships for same-day answers, as well as data validity testing. This will include writing reports with little advanced warning, to meeting the time-sensitive requirements of our clients.
• Countries of field research will include Somalia (including Puntland), Somaliland, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Mozambique, and Tanzania, with priority for Somalia, Mozambique, and Ethiopia. o Recognize and articulate critical information gaps; assist customers in identifying collection requirements; close collection gaps by broadening Valar’s human network in-country and leveraging existing or new contacts to provide the client with the most refined, accurate, and near real-time information on all matters pertaining to the client’s project.
• Be confident and willing to engage in presentations and public speaking from day one; be adept at meeting, conversing and engaging with a wide variety of people, including armed forces or government personnel, academics, the media, and private sector clients. o Exercise discretion and maintain confidentiality.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 5 years of experience performing East Africa regional field research, intelligence analysis, and Highly effective organizational and senior level engagements. prioritization skills, including the ability to stay on task and maintain focus in a fast-paced
• MA Degree in a relevant discipline environment; strong attention to detail; keen
• (international development, political science, understanding of time-sensitive requirements.
• Africa security studies, international relations).
• Specialized training, certifications, and Fluent English speaker and speaker of East experience in field research, data analysis, and African languages. methodologies.
• Impeccable English writing and speaking ability.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office applications Significant experience briefing senior (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, Excel; basic government and corporate leadership. familiarity with geospatial technology (such as CARTO, ArcGIS, Google Earth). East Africa subject matter expertise on extremist organizations, tribes and clans, politics, physical infrastructure, institutions, and the economy.
• Prior experience working on African-focused projects and clients.
• MA or PhD in a relevant discipline – leveraging human networks; experience liaising international relations, international business, with security sector officials, including police social science, political science, security studies, and military. journalism.
• 6-15 years of experience working with prior experience working and living in Africa, military, law enforcement, intelligence, preferably East Africa.
• Government, NGO or relevant sectors (e.g., oil and gas, donor programs, and media) in East Experience overseeing data analytics, data
• Africa. collection, and data visualization tools and techniques, such as Fulcrum and ArcGIS.
• Demonstrable experience for managing all- source written production capability and Proficiency in supporting open-source geospatial experience in building, maintaining, and information collection, analytical tools, and dataset compilations; expertise on creating data visualizations of complex data for widespread client consumption and understanding (particularly across East Africa).

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Disability insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule: 8-hour shift

Education: Bachelor’s (Preferred)

Experience:

• Social Science: 6 years (Preferred)
• Microsoft Excel: 5 years (Preferred)

Company’s website: www.valarfrontier.com

Interested candidates please apply.